Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

It looks really neat! I wish you luck on the toms. Perhaps adding an air stone or two in there if the plants seem to be suffering from water logging (look wilted droopy even when in plenty of water.) Or perhaps you can figure out a way to boost up the grid on a few extra bricks or maybe a couple 2 X 4s accross under the grid to pick the baskets up out of the water some once the plants are going.

Good luck with it. Perhaps to improve you chances with the tomatoes, you might look into an aquarium potassium supplement or perhaps something like Pond Flourish or Flourish Tabs that has lots of trace minerals as well as the potassium and iron.

Good ideas TC. I will see how things start off, but the potassium and air stone will be things to add if it isn't looking good. I appreciate the advice.

Brad

Most of those are made of LDPE or HDPE, so it does not get any more food safe than that for plastics! Thats not a bad idea! Just the other day I picked up 3 large chopping plastic blocks at HarborFreight for $3

well, I tried this on the weekend Mind you they were very thin boards, but after I had cut holes in it, the board kept sinking about 2cm below the surface. Not floating high enough.

Then my brilliant husband had an idea Why not use one of the floating bread crates from the redclaw system! That works well! If you put them in upside down the mesh bottom of the crate will hold lots of plants. If you put them in right way up, as we did, you can sew some mossie screen to the frame work and the seedlings sit in a tiny bit of water and the whole thing floats really well

To bad they dont float high enough.. I guess it would take a much thicker board them.. Dang That would have been nice to have a board stiff enough to lift out of my sump.

I like the bread tray idea though!

What about a balsa raft? Supplies could be had at just about any Hobby Store

Great ideas. Several things to try. For now I am commited to the rebar grid holding net pots since it is done and in place. Now I am just waiting for the threat of frost to pass before getting plants in the water. Hopefully by Thursday!

Brad

Balsa might be good but definitely test to see if the fish are going to have any problems with it.

How long does it take for balsa to become waterlogged?

The threat of frost seems to have passed so the veggies went into the gravel last night! Most were purchased from a nursery so they are a little taller and already had a root system. For that reason they are not real stable yet. Hopefully pretty quickly the roots will intertwine in the gravel and provide more support. I also had some seeds that I had sprouted and they are underwater at this point. I will be interested to see if they make it up above the water. I planted some unsprouted seeds as well so they will face the same issue. I am testing with corn, tomatoes, green beans, green peppers, cucumbers, leaf lettuce, onions, and spinach.

Wondering if it would be better (avoid root rot) if you raise the planters up a bit so the top of the gravel remains dry? Hope the frost stays away and you have some good growth.

Thanks GF. The water level on the plants is my main concern right now, though it seems inherent with DWC that the roots are always submerged. I was thinking that as long as there is enough O2 in the water the roots would be fine. I know I had a big vase with a fish in it and a plant with no dirt on top and the plant and fish did fine for several years. The roots grew to the bottom of the vase. I think I will see how the plants look over the next few days and make adjustments if they wilt.

Brad

I think GF meant more along the lines of "stem rot". A lot of plants don't like being that low in the water. Example , if you put strawberries that deep , they'd be dead inside a week / 10 days.
Other plants LOVE being that deep , water convulvus for instance would .

Yes thats it thanks for the correction.

On the subject roots being in water roots suspended in water will have oxygen allround them roots in gravel and suspended in water the oxigenated water is not circulating around the roots [problems root rot ] it will be ok when the roots come out of the pot just my 2 cents worth